October 2012 Archives

If you've watched any Ole Miss Football this year, you've seen Denzel Nkemdiche flying around the field. Known to some as the "Tasmanian Denzel," he is always around the ball and makes huge plays despite his smallish frame for a linebacker (5-foot-11, 203 pounds).

Well, now the nation is starting to take notice. On Tuesday, the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) added Nkemdiche to the 2012 CFPA National Freshman Performer of the Year Watch List. He is one of 32 Division I FBS players on the list.

The redshirt-freshman from Loganville, Ga., leads Ole Miss with 52 tackles, 9.0 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and two interceptions. He is tied for sixth in the SEC in TFLs and leads all freshmen in that category. He has helped the Rebels to an amazing turnaround from last year with a 5-3 record through eight games, just one victory shy of bowl eligibility.

Previous FBS recipients of the CFPA National Freshman Performer of the Year include Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller (2011), South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore (2010), and Oregon running back LaMichael James (2009).

I am constantly asked for my best guess on game times, so
here goes. I preface this post by saying these are GUESSES. Do not invest
heavily in travel plans or set your wedding time based on the following kickoffs.
These are shots in the dark based on other matchups, frequency on TV network, etc.
If I miss one, I could miss them all. That's the way it goes. ESPN often moves SEC
games around in their lineup, so that really makes it unpredictable (that 8:15 p.m. slot could end up at 11 a.m.). However,
all that said, if you are looking for an educated guess, I'm giving it you. I
will update this throughout the season as the landscape changes and indicate my makes
and misses.

UPDATE: ESPN is moving more and more games to 11 a.m. slots, making times even harder to predict. I feel good about LSU and my network picks for the others games, but times for UGA, Vandy and MSU are anyone's guess at this point.

Denzel Nkemdiche has been starring on the field as well as the small screen lately. The Rebel linebacker gave a tour of the Indoor Practice Facility during ESPNU's "All-Access: Ole Miss Football" last week, and now he is the subject of a feature produced by ESPNU Campus Connection, in conjunction with RebelVision's Kayla Lusby.

Ole Miss Athletics Director Ross Bjork will be the featured speaker at the Jackson Touchdown Club meeting Monday, Oct. 29. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the River Hills Tennis Club located at the intersection of Ridgewood Road and Lakeland Drive.

Admission for non-members and guests is $30.00. Space is limited. For additional information, contact Glen Waddle, Secretary of the Jackson Touchdown Club, at 601-506-3186, or visit the club's website at www.jacksontouchdownclub.com.

Coach Kennedy took some time out of his preseason practice schedule to speak with Ole Miss Basketball Band members in the band hall Tuesday night. The hardwood Rebels begin their season November 9th vs. MVSU at 8:30 p.m. and will host Montevallo in an Exhibition game on Nov. 5th at 7 p.m. Admission to the Exhibition game is free.

Paul Bowers, a non-scholarship football player at Ole Miss in 2003, had been living an active life since his days in Oxford. Now an attorney in Houston, Texas, Bowers often played basketball and tennis in his spare time.

That was until he suffered a stroke in May, at age 28. He received immediate medical assistance, which minimized the effects of the stroke, but he has been unable to regain his active lifestyle.

Now Bowers is an advocate for stroke awareness..His story has been shared in the New York Times editorials and on the NBC Nightly News. He wants to spread the word that strokes can happen to young people.

After months of fielding calls inquiring about it, it was exciting to see the 2013 schedule announced today. It's certainly an interesting lineup with road games stacked at the start and home games lined up for the stretch run. Here are a few notes about next year's slate:

* The six-game homestand will be the longest in school history. The previous long is four games, which occurred most recently in 2003.

* The last time Ole Miss opened the season with an SEC foe was also Vanderbilt in Nashville to start the 2003 campaign.

* The last time the Rebels traveled to Austin was 1925.

* The last time the Rebels traveled to the same SEC opponent in consecutive years was LSU in 2001 and 2002.

* The last time Ole Miss traveled to both Alabama and Auburn in the same season was 1977, when the Rebels faced the Tide in Birmingham and the Tigers on the Plains.

* The last time Ole Miss had two open dates was 2008, when the Rebels were free on Oct. 11 and Nov. 8.

Former Ole Miss women's golfer Haley Millsap has advanced
to the third and final stage of LPGA Tour Q-School after finishing seventh in
Stage II with a 5-under 283 in the four-day tournament.

Millsap carded four-consecutive below par rounds (71-70-71-71) to become one of 70 golfers to advance to Stage III. Stage II was held Oct. 9-12 at the Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Fla.

"Advancing to the third stage of LPGA Tour Q-School is a good feeling," Millsap said. "It
is what I have been preparing for for many years now and to actually be in the
present of it happening is exciting and fun. However, a lot of the feelings I
am having are just gratitude and thanks to all those who have stuck with me and
have helped me get to this stage! God is good!"

Millsap finished in a tie for 45th in Stage I to be one of 60
golfers to advance to Stage II. She carded a 4-over 292 in Stage I, including
firing a 1-under 71 in the final round to move up the leaderboard.

The final Stage III Q-school will be contested over 90 holes Nov. 28 through Dec. 2, on both the Champions and Legends courses at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla. Top finishers in the final stage will earn 2013 LPGA membership (total number of cards TBD) and all others who make the cut will receive Symetra Tour status.

Millsap played for Ole Miss from 2008-12. She posted eight top-20 finishes and two top-10 finishes during her career and was also named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll, the Chancellor's Honor Roll and an NGCA All-American Scholar.

It's been a solid year for 2009 NCAA Singles Champion Devin Britton, who last week picked up his 10th doubles title of 2012. The Brandon, Miss., native teamed up with former Aggie Austin Krajicek to capture the Futures title in Austin, Texas this past weekend.

A week after the pair reached the finals of the $100,000 Sacramento Challenger, Britton and Krajicek defeated Carsten Ball and former Ohio State Buckeye Chase Buchanan 6-4, 7-5 two win the title. Britton is ranked No. 148 in this week's ATP Doubles Rankings.

This week, Britton heads to Mansfield, Texas for another Futures event. Aside from playing singles and doubles each week on the Futures and Challenger tours, Britton has found time to blog about life as a professional tennis player and his travels. Check it out here.